Several NGOs, including the Platform for Gender Equality, signed an open letter expressing outrage at the prosecution of the psychoneurological institution’s doctor, previously accused of rape.

OPEN LATTER

on the first court decision in the cases of rape at the psychoneurological institution in Bălți

25 October, 2016

We, the signatories of this declaration, namely organizations and individuals active in the field of protecting women’s rights, express our indignation the the inefficient action of state agencies in the rape cases at the psychoneurological institution in Balti. We condemn that, despite being found guilty, doctor Stanislav Florea was allowed to leave the courtroom, without preventive measure by arrest. At the same time, the right of victims to compensation for physical and psychological suffering through intimidation and humiliation borne over the years, was not respected.

The rapist’s finding in freedom for 15 days until the entry into force of the sentence poses several risks, as there are reasonable grounds to suspect that this may influence victims or that he may flee the country, evading execution of punishment.

We demand that the competent authorities urgently take all necessary measures, as follows:

1. Ministry of Interior  – to immediately locate and closely monitor the person convicted of rape; inform the Border Police about the convict’s obligation not to leave the country; immediately inform the Office of the Prosecutor General about any attempt to leave the country;
2. Officer of the Prosecutor General – submit an immediate application for appeal against the gentle sentence; launch the procedure on placement in custody of citizen Stanislav Florea, found guilty of rape and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment; take steps to avoid the persecution, intimidation and re-victimization of the 16 beneficiaries of the psychoneurologist institution in Blati by its former and current staff members;
3. Superior Council of Prosecutors and the Office of Anticorruption Prosecutors – investigate and sanction prosecutors, who mistakenly qualified the criminal acts of rapist Stanislav Florea, resulting in the termination of criminal proceedings against four raped women; delayed and instrumented the cases of 16 other victims, as well as other victims from the institution, as no measures of criminal procedure that are indicated in such situations have been taken, and whose inaction resulted especially in allowing the rapist to leave the courtroom freely, all the while victims say that they are afraid for their lives as long as the perpetrator is at large;
4. Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection – ensure that all victims have access to quality rehabilitation services and social counseling for medium and long term;
5. Ministry of Health –  monitor the situation in the psychoneurological institution in Balti, as well as in similar institutions, in order to avoid such situations in the future, and undertake measures to prevent and respond to such abuses;
6. Superior Council of Magistracy – sanction the judges who issued a manifestly illegal decision, by refusing to award moral compensation to victims and postponing the penalty for a period of 15 days; monitor and sanction judges who delay cases, as in this case, when for three years the victims were forced to live in the same locality as the abuser;
7. Ministry of Justice – create an institution of judicial police in order to achieve the finalization of criminal proceedings – an initiative announced repeatedly in the past, so as to avoid similar situations in the future;
8. Competent authorities – investigate the multiple acts of torture and ill-treatment, particularly of the many forced abortions occurred to victims of rape and patients in this institution; investigate ex-officio the delay in this case;
9. Competent authorities – develop a legal framework and a mechanism for reporting cases of abuse in institutions.

We believe that the lack of response and superficial investigation of this particular case, the delay in applying the decision, and letting the rapist at large will create dangerous precedents.

Signatories:

Group of Feminist Initiatives from Moldova

Resource Center for Human Rights, CReDO

International Center “La Strada”

Civic Association “Hyde Park”

Information Center GENDERDOC-M

National Center for Prevention of Child Abuse

Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture “Memoria”

Association against Violence “Casa Mărioarei”

Promo-LEX

Family Crisis Center “Sotis”, Bălți

NGO “Honor and Rights of the Contemporary Woman”, Bălți

Maternal Center, Cahul

Maternal Center, Căuşeni

Maternal Center “Ariadna”, Drochia

NGO “Moldova Stimul”, Ocnița

Platform for Gender Equality

Victoria Apostol, activist

Violeta Gaşiţoi, lawyer

Alina Andronache, activist

Ana Gurău, activist

Viorica Tătaru, activist

Anastasia Cucuruz, activist

Ghenadie Brega, activist

Natalia Andreev, activist

Vitalie Sprînceană, Platzforma

Vlada Ciobanu, activist, blogger

Polina Ceastuhina, activist

Oleg Brega, activist

Diana Guja, activist, blogger

Natalia Scobioală, activist

Artiom Zavadovschi, activist for LGBT rights

Marin Basarab, journalist